Donaldson outshines McIlroy, Woods at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship

Unheralded Jamie Donaldson outshone struggling Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in shooting an opening-round 5-under-par 67 for the early clubhouse lead on Thursday.

McIlroy, playing with new clubs following his multimillion dollar sponsorship deal with Nike, finished with a 3-over 75 and risks missing the cut. He repeatedly missed fairways including a shot on his 12th that hit a tree and ended up in a car park that led to one of his two double-bogeys. He also putted poorly, missing a par putt on his 17th and a birdie putt on the 18th.

Woods, meanwhile, finished even par after a rollercoaster round. He had four birdies to go along with four bogeys and ended his round by three-putting his 18th for a bogey.